Cold case arrest: Man accused of 1998 rape, kidnapping in Roseville

A Clinton Township man was arrested Wednesday for a 1998 rape and kidnapping of a Roseville woman after DNA from the incident matched his DNA collected by California law enforcement agencies.

Prosecutor Eric Smith said in a press release that Michael Loftis, 44, has been charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping for abducting a 62-year-old woman at a July 1998 bingo game at the Sacred Heart Church Festival in Roseville. Loftis forced the woman into her car and took her to a liquor-store parking lot at 12 Mile Road and Interstate-94, where he raped her, police say.

The prosecutor praised Roseville detectives, led by Brian McKenzie, assistant prosecutors and Michigan State Police.

“I applaud the Roseville Police Department for never letting go of this case,” Smith said. “They combined new forensic science with solid, old-school police work in an effort to bring closure to the victim’s family.”

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The victim died of natural causes in 2011 at age 75, Smith said.

Smith said the team of investigators tracked down nurses, doctors, lab scientists and police officers involved in the 1998 investigation, and “unearthed medical notes and interview statements” from the original case.

The victim immediately after the attack went to St. John Macomb Hospital in Warren, the prosecutor said. Lab samples were taken from her clothing and car seat.

Loftis was tied to the case last year after he was required to submit his DNA to law enforcment officials in California for a brief move there because he is a registered sex offender in Michigan. He was convicted in 1995 by a Macomb County jury of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, involving personal injury, for a 1994 incident in Roseville or Fraser, according to court records. He was acquitted of a kidnapping charge. He was sentenced by then-circuit judge Lido Bucci to three years probation, with the first year served in the county jail, and 300 hours of community service.

Loftis was arraigned Wednesday afternoon in front of Judge Catherine Steenland in 39th District Court in Roseville and was being held on a $1 million bond.

Kidnapping and first-degree sexual conduct are punishable by up to life in prison. He also faces a 15-year felony unlawful imprisonment.

About the Author

My beat is the courts of Macomb County and general assignment.
Read more of Jameson Cook's court coverage on his blog http://courthousedish.blogspot.com/ Reach the author at jamie.cook@macombdaily.com
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